


Natalie

by SugdenLovesDingle



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M, Surrogacy, liv is an awesome sister, roblivion feels, sort of based on spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 09:32:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18466228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugdenLovesDingle/pseuds/SugdenLovesDingle
Summary: Robert and Aaron are late for their meeting with a potential surrogate, Liv keeps her company.





	Natalie

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about this whole Faith and meatloaf messing things up with the potential surrogate next week, and how much I’d like it if it was Liv talking to her because the boys were late, and telling her what they’re really like.
> 
> and since ED won’t give it to me (for now at least) I wrote it myself.

“Right, Natalie will be here at half 2 tomorrow.” Aaron said, putting his phone away and giving Robert a nervous smile.

“Ok. My meeting should finish around 1 at the latest. That’ll give us plenty of time to change and clean up around here.”

“Clean up? The place is spotless.” Liv commented.

“It’s a mess.” “Robert said, looking around. “There’s dirty dishes on the counter and clean clothes on the sofa that haven’t been put away.”

“We just ate, Robert. And I’ll take my clothes up with me when I go to bed alright? Keep your hair on.”

“Sorry.” Robert sighed. “I just want this to go well. I want her to like us.”

“And not run a mile...”

“She agreed to come round here didn’t she? That’s a step in the right direction.” Liv pointed out.

“Yeah I suppose you’re right.” Aaron said and got up to load up the dishwasher. “But not a word to my mum alright?”

“Or Vic.”

“Or anyone really. Not even Gabby.”

“She’ll tell Bernice, Bernice will tell Diane, Diane will tell Chas and Chas will tell the rest of the family.” Robert explained when Liv gave him a confused look.

“Alright… I won’t tell anyone… But why don’t you want anyone to know?”

“There’s nothing to tell yet.”

“And we don’t want the family to scare her off.” Aaron added. “There will be plenty of time for that if she says yes. For now… nothing about this goes past the walls of this flat aright?”

“Alright.”

“What time do you finish college?” Robert asked Liv.

“Why? Do you not want me to come home until she’s gone or something?”

“No, no, of course not. It’s your house too. You can be here if you want. There won’t be any more disgusting details, I promise.” Robert joked. “I just thought I could give you a lift home if you wanted.”

“No I’m alright. I’ll get the bus. I only have two classes tomorrow so I finish early.”

\---

The next morning Liv was happy to get out of the house. Both Robert and Aaron were stressing around and Robert ended up taking Aaron’s car to get to his meeting because he couldn’t find his own car keys.

They were in their usual place.

College was uneventful and Liv hoped that by the time she got home, things would have calmed down a little. Or at the very least they’d both still be out and she’d have an hour of peace and quiet.

Only by noon the family group chat (that Robert had created not long after he and Aaron had gotten back together) had started blowing up.

Robert was panicking because he was stuck in traffic and still nowhere near home, and Aaron was yelling at him and telling him to take different routes.

By the time she got home Aaron was cleaning their already spotless house and looking at the clock every 2 seconds.

“No Robert yet?”

Aaron shook his head.

“It’s moving again but it’s going slowly. He says he’ll make it in time.”

“Well that’s good then, isn’t it?”

“Yeah but I think he’s only saying it to make me feel better.”

Liv sighed.

“So then maybe he’s a little late. You can just explain to her he’s on his way, can’t you? Give her a cup of tea and a biscuit, I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“No…” Aaron said, more to himself than Liv and started yanking open kitchen cabinets.

“What are you looking for?”

“We don’t have any biscuits.”

“So? I really don’t think she’ll say no because you didn’t have biscuits.”

“I’ll just go get some.” He grabbed his jacket and his (Robert’s) car keys and all but ran out the door, only to walk back in right away when Liv called his name.

“What are you taking your car keys for? Surely you’re not driving to David’s.”

“I’m not going to David’s.” Aaron said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m going to Tesco in Hotten.”

“Why? David sells biscuits…”

“I know. But I’m not spending my money there anymore. Not unless I absolutely have to.”

“Because of what happened with Jacob?”

“No. Yes. Maybe. He’s too expensive anyway. We need to save money for the surrogacy. Do you need anything?”

“Maybe pads. I don’t need them for another week… but if you’re going anyway…”

“Pads? As in…” Aaron trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

“The things I need for my period?”

Aaron made a face and nodded.

“Yeah… that.”

“You’re going to have to get used to talking about that, you might have a daughter.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll have 15 years or so to do that.”

“More like 11 or 12. I was 11.”

Aaron gave her a look of pure horror and Liv tried her best not to laugh.

“I’ll send you a pic of the brand I need.” She said and burst out laughing the second the door closed behind Aaron.

Maybe she liked winding him up a little too much.

Not even five minutes after Aaron left the house, Liv’s phone beeped with a message. Robert saying he’ll definitely be home in time to meet Natalie, while also asking if she was planning on going out that afternoon.

She assured him she wasn’t but hoped he’d make it home in time. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to meet this Natalie woman, she just didn’t have a clue what to tell her or what Robert and Aaron had told her about themselves.

She made herself a sandwich and tried to focus on her college work but couldn’t help but feel more and more anxious every time she looked at the clock. It was getting really close to the time they’d agreed on with Natalie and neither of them were home yet.

The doorbell rang and Liv jumped and for a second let herself think it would be either of her brothers who’d forgotten they had a key on them.

She got up to buzz open the front door and open the flat door.

“Hi, you must be Natalie?”

“Yes… I’m not sure I’m in the right place…”

“You’re here to meet Aaron and Robert aren’t you?”

“Yes…”

“I’m Olivia - Liv, Aaron’s sister. They’re running a little late but come in and make yourself at home.”

“Oh, alright. Nice to meet you. Is everything alright with them? I can come back another time?”

“No, everything is fine. Well, Robert is stuck in traffic on the way home from work and Aaron just went to get some biscuits because he was worried you’d say no if they didn’t offer you any biscuits.” Liv explained with a grin and gestured for Natalie to come inside.

“He didn’t have to go through all that trouble for me.” Natalie said, sitting down on the sofa.

“Can I get you anything?” Liv offered. “There’s no biscuits but we do have tea.”

“A cup of tea would be lovely.” Natalie replied as she looked around the flat. “So you live here too?”

“Yep. It’s usually just the three of us. Four if Seb is visiting.”

“Seb?”

Liv mentally kicked herself. Clearly they hadn’t told her about Seb yet.”

“Uh yeah… Sebastian. He’s their son… but he lives with his mum in Liverpool.”

“Oh. I didn’t realise they already had a child through surrogacy. I was under the impression it was the first time for them too.”

“It is. Seb is uhm… Robert’s… from a previous relationship. Sort of. It’s complicated. They really should explain all this themselves.”

Natalie nodded, seemingly satisfied with that explanation.

“You said too… the first time for them too.” Liv prompted when she put a cup of tea on the table in front of Natalie.

Natalie smiled.

“Yeah it’s the first time for me too. My brother and his husband just had a baby through surrogacy. I wanted to be their surrogate but my brother wanted to be the donor… so I couldn’t. But I’d started looking into the process already and decided I wanted to help other couples have a baby this way.”

“Really? Just like that? You want to have a baby for someone else?”

“Well not just like that…”

“But you’ll carry it for nine months and then just… give it away?”

“Are you trying to talk me out of it?” Natalie asked, a worried frown on her face.

“No, absolutely not. I know how much they want this, I’d never do that to them. I’m just… curious I suppose. Why someone would do it.”

“Well, like I said, my brother and his husband were having a baby that way so I started looking into it too.”

“Fair enough.” Liv said. If there was one thing she understood, it was wanting to help those close to you.

“So… they told me they both own their own business?”

Liv nodded.

“Aaron owns a scrapyard just outside the village and Robert co-owns a haulage company. They do alright.”

“Clearly.” Natalie said. “I mean… this is a very nice house. Sorry, I’m a little nervous.”

Liv smiled, she was starting to like this Natalie woman.

“Don’t worry, they’re twice as nervous. Because there’s two of them.” she joked and Natalie seemed to relax a little.

“How long have you guys lived here?”

“About two years now. Robert did most of the decorating. Aaron doesn’t really care about that sort of thing so he just let him do his thing.” Liv explained, leaving out certain details.

Natalie asked some more questions about their life and Liv did her best to answer without getting into the details Robert and Aaron probably didn’t want her to know just yet.

Everything was going well and, despite a few frantic texts from her brothers, Liv felt like she had things under control.

Until Chas let herself in. Aaron really should have a talk with her about the meaning of the word emergency.

“Chas! What are you doing here?”

“I’m looking for Aaron. He wasn’t at work but I saw the truck parked outside the portacabin so I figured he was at home.”

“Well he’s not. He’s out food shopping. With Rob.”

“Together? I thought they’d stopped doing that because they couldn’t agree on what to buy?”

“Uh no they’re fine now. That was during Rob’s healthy eating crisis. He’s over that again. It’s the Easter eggs that did him in. You know what he’s like.”

Chas narrowed her eyes.

“Right… It’s just that I need to talk to them about Bear.”

“I’ll tell them when they get back. Promise.”

“Yeah… Who’s your friend?” Chas asked, looking at Natalie.

“Oh. I’m Natalie, I’m - ”

“She’s a friend from college. I mean. My advisor. She’s helping me pick out classes for next year.”

“From the top of her head?”

“We’re just having a cuppa before we get started. Not a crime is it?”

Chas looked back and forth between the two.

“No I suppose not. Just… tell Aaron I need to talk to him, ok? Don’t tell him it’s about Bear or he won’t even listen.”

“Will do.” Liv said and walked Chas to the door. “I’ll tell him to stop by the pub later. Bye Chas.” She all but pushed Chas out the door and leaned against it after closing it. She clearly hadn’t believed a word Liv had said.

“I’m your college advisor?” Natalie asked, thankfully sounding amused more than anything else.

“I panicked. Rob and Aaron don’t want anyone to know yet. Not until there is something to know, you know. They only told me because I live with them.” Liv explained. “That was Aaron’s mum. We have different mothers. It’s a long story.”

“So is Aaron close to his mother?”

“Yeah, yeah he is. They both are really. She owns the pub down the road. And his uncle owns the garage, he used to work there before he started the scrapyard. And his stepdad is a vet. Come to think about it, his family owns half the village. So they’ll have plenty of help and support with the baby.”

“And Robert? Does his family live around here too?”

“His sister does. She lives down the road and works in Chas’ pub as a chef. And his step mum and step sister live in the village too.”

“Sounds like a tight knit community.”

Liv shrugged.

“It can be. But they can tell you all of this themselves. Knowing Robert, he’s probably prepared a full on presentation on why you should pick them.” She said and laughed.

Natalie smiled.

“We’re not at the picking anyone stage yet. We’re just getting to know each other.”

“I know. They told me. But what is it about them that you liked? That made you want to get to know them better?” Liv asked.

Natalie thought for a moment.

“We got talking at the meeting the other day. I overheard Robert complain about the coffee and Aaron telling him to shut up.”

“That sounds like them.” Liv said laughingly. “They bicker a lot… but it’s just their thing. They love each other like mad.”

Natalie nodded.

“Well he was right about the coffee, it really was terrible.” She said and laughed. “And we kind of got talking after that. They seemed nice… and we exchanged numbers… and now here I am.”

“And they’re late.”

“But I have you to keep me company. And fill me on what they’re really like.”

“They’re… they’re great brothers and I’m 100% sure they’ll be great parents to this baby, if and when he or she arrives.” Liv told Natalie. “They’re always there for me. Robert is good with numbers and he helps me with my homework. He helped me revise for my exams and explained everything until I understood it. And it worked. I passed.”

“That’s great. Congrats.”

“Thanks. He made my favourite food for dinner the day I got my results. He likes to cook, he’s a decent chef. And he’s teaching Aaron now.”

“Aaron doesn’t cook?”

“Fry up. And beans on toast. He’s alright with pancakes too.” Liv told her. “But most of all… he’s a great brother. He’s gone to Tesco instead of the local shop because my ex boyfriend’s dad owns it. We just split up a few days ago and he’s boycotting the shop for me. It sounds a bit petty… but he just wants to protect me and show me he’s on my side.”

“That’s sweet.”

Liv nodded.

“He is. He’s got a huge heart and wants everyone around him to be happy and make sure they know they’re loved.”

“So you like living with them?”

“Definitely. My mum lives in Dublin and we go visit from time to time… but this place is home. With them. I miss them when I’m in Ireland. Even if Rob spends more time in the bathroom and owns more hair products and things than anyone I know, and Aaron basically communicates in grunts when he’s tired.” Liv said and laughed. “And they argue about whose taste in music is superior. Aaron thinks it’s him because he’s memorised every copy of NME but his collection has some dodgy things too.”

Natalie laughed.

“Sounds like my brother and films. If it’s made after roughly 1960, it’s not worth the time and energy.”

“Rob likes Marvel. He has a ton of comics too. Aaron likes anything with fast cars. And they’re both obsessed with Top Gear. And Aaron watches those reality shows like Love Island and Big brother. He gets really into it and makes Rob watch it and all.”

They started swapping big brother stories and Liv really started to like Natalie. She hoped things were going to work out between her and Aaron and Robert.

“I’m so, so sorry we’re late. My meeting ran late and traffic was a mess.” Robert said as he barrelled into the house, Aaron following close behind, carrying two large shopping bags.

“Yes, I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“That’s alright. Liv kept me company.” Natalie replied. “We had a good talk.”

“Yeah I told her all about your obsession with Love Island and Rob’s moisturiser.” Liv told them and enjoyed the way they both stopped what they were doing for a second.

Natalie smiled.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you.”

“Right. Uhm. Can I get you anything?” Aaron asked. “Tea? Biscuit? I got these chocolate ones.”

“Sure. Chocolate is my weakness.” Natalie said, which seemed to relax him a little.

Liv got up and grabbed her jacket.

“I promised Gabby I’d stop by. I’ll be back for tea.” She told them. She hoped things would work out for the three of them but for now, she’d leave them to it.


End file.
